Xiao Zhuang is one of the pioneering female photographers in China. Between the 1950s and the 1970s, Xiao Zhuang documented history in a most thorough manner with her camera, covering the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the Socialist Construction Period and the Cultural Revolution Period. The major events she recorded include: the War Preparation Campaign, the dispatch of Chinese troops to aid North Korea in the Korean War, the campaign of establishing mutual-aid teams in rural China, the promotion of rural cooperatives, the public-private partnership program, the establishment of people’s communes, the Great Leap Forward, the nationwide steel-making rush, the re-education of government officials and school students in the countryside and the “Cultural Revolution”. Her photographs depict vivid scenes that still have great relevance today. Some of the works are grand historical narratives and some of them recorded the daily lives of ordinary people. These works would usually provoke self-reflections among audiences who have experienced these events and strike younger viewers in awe.

(Wang Qiuhang, Photographer, Secretary General of the Hangzhou Association of Photographers)

Xiao Zhuang took a large number of pictures of great historical significance. Viewers with life experiences in the 1950s will get reminiscent of the times back then via the series of consistent photographs and reflect on the fact that our lives and destinies are closely intertwined with the development of the nation and society. The vivid, realistic and profound scenes in her works are beyond the description of any words. It is said that history is a great textbook. We should thank the photographer for leaving us (both the older generation that have experienced lives in that period and the younger generation) such a splendid collection of photographs that make an excellent textbook with great historical significance.

(Gao Si, Former Director and Party Chief of Jiangsu News and Publishing Bureau, Former Director of Jiangsu People’s Publishing Press)